Mandatory Break Compliance Implementation
Several U.S. states have labor laws that require employers to provide employees with mandatory breaks after working a specified number of hours. These rules vary by state. The Break Compliance feature in Zenople automates adherence to these regulations by monitoring hours worked, issuing reminders or warnings, and tracking compliance.
Break Compliance navigation
A new navigation item has been added under the Back Office Section of ATM, titled “Break Compliance.” This navigation allows users to define and manage mandatory break rules based on state-specific regulations.
Key features include:
- State Selection: A dropdown at the top of the page where users select a state to view or configure rules.
- Current/All Toggle: Allows users to switch between viewing current rules or all rules.
Available actions:
- Add – Create a new Break Compliance rule for the selected state.
- Edit – Update an existing Break Compliance rule.
- Refresh – Reload the directory to reflect the latest updates.
Displayed columns:
- State – Name of the state associated with the rule.
- Hours Worked Threshold – The number of hours worked before a mandatory break is required.
- Mandatory Break Duration Minutes – The required break duration in minutes.
- Start Date – Effective start date of the rule.
- End Date – Effective end date of the rule.
Break Compliance Form
The Break Compliance Form consists of the following fields:
- State: Auto-populated with the state selected from the directory.
- Hours Worked Threshold: Numeric field specifying the number of hours worked before a break is required (range: 0–36).
- Mandatory Break Duration Minutes: Numeric field specifying the required break duration in minutes (range: 0–2160).
- Start Date: Date picker restricted to Accounting Periods.
- End Date: Date picker restricted to Accounting Periods.
Break Violation
A Break Violation occurs in the following cases:
- The employee does not take their mandatory break after reaching the Hours Worked Threshold.
- The employee takes a break but does not complete the required Mandatory Break Duration Minutes.
New Time Clock Properties
The following new properties have been added in the “Set Time Clock Property” Stepper for Break Compliance:
- Enforce Minimum Break Duration: (True/False) field to specify whether an employee can break in before the mandatory break duration is completed.
- Break Notifications: Multi-select dropdown allowing users to choose notification platforms. Options include:
- Employee – Mobile App Notification
- Office Staff – Mobile App Notification
- Contact – Mobile App Notification
- Employee – Text Notification
Enforce Minimum Break Duration for Timeclocks
If Enforce Minimum Break Duration is set to True, employees cannot break in until they have taken at least the mandatory break duration after crossing the Hours Worked Threshold.
This restriction applies to the following platforms:
- Web Time Clock
- Mobile Time Clock
- Aqore ZenTime
Notifications
Employee Mobile Application Notification
If enabled, the employee receives a mobile app notification indicating that their mandatory break is due soon.
Office Staff Mobile Application Notification
If enabled, office staff receive a notification when an employee fails to take their break after crossing the threshold. Notifications are sent to the “Placed By” User Role associated with the transaction (viewable in Timesheet → Transaction Expansion → User Role Tab or Workboard → Split View → User Role tab).
Contact Mobile Application Notification
If enabled, contacts (with the Time Approver or Supervisor role, or with Allow Web Clock Full Access set to True in List Item navigation of ATM) receive a notification if an employee fails to take their mandatory break after the threshold.
Employee Text Notification
If enabled, the employee receives a text message notification reminding them that their mandatory break is due soon.
Timesheet Exception for Non-Compliant Meal Breaks
An exception has been added to the Timesheet Management System to flag employees who fail to take the required minimum break after reaching the hours threshold. These exceptions can be viewed in both Timesheet and Workboard.
Timecard Status additions for Workboard
If break rules are violated, the Timecard Status in the Workboard navigation of TMS will display the violation by appending “– Break Violation” to the status. Possible statuses include:
- Working – Break Violation
- On Break – Break Violation
- Incomplete – Break Violation
- Complete – Break Violation
- Missing – Break Violation
Things to Keep in Consideration
- The Break Compliance feature applies only to the first break of an employee for the day. Additional breaks are not monitored by this feature.
- This feature does not apply to Unit Only Transactions. However, Timecard Status in Workboard only works in case the Transaction Template is Template Based on 4 entries.
- For Break Compliance setup in ATM, Start Date and End Date cannot fall within the same Accounting Period. This restriction applies across multiple rules for the state.
- Time calculations for Break Compliance are based on State Time.
- For Text Messages, standard Text messaging charges will apply.